Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Soup

January 15, 2017

Have you ever tried to make a creamy soup that turned out plain and lumpy? I have. A lot of times. If you’re not a big soup person just like me, the art of making a creamy vegan soup can be quite challenging. But after some trial and error, I found the magic ingredient that will guarantee an extra creamy soup.

Can you guess the ingredient? It’s coconut milk! It’ll turn any soup into a creamy deliciousness. Although quite high in calories, coconut milk is actually good for you. It’s a wonderful source of manganese and copper, which are great for reducing inflammation processes and increasing energy levels.

For the soup’s base, I used pumpkin. As it’s available throughout the whole autumn and winter, pumpkin is perfect for soups, stews and other dishes during the cold season.

If your taste buds make good friends with pumpkin, you’re definitely a winner. Pumpkins are incredibly nutritious. They’re loaded with magnesium that helps to transport the calcium in the body, which is vital for the bone health. Also, pumpkins are loaded with vitamin A that helps to protect your eyesight. It’s also a great source of iron, zinc and has anti-inflammatory properties.

This soup also combines spices with a high healing potential. Turmeric, ginger, and cayenne pepper are all excellent immunity boosters that will help you to keep any viruses at bay.

Note about the spices – I made this soup quite spicy, but feel free to go your way and adjust the spices to your needs. If you prefer a non-spicy version, skip the cayenne pepper and ginger.

To make 6 servings of creamy vegan pumpkin soup, you’ll need:

1 medium size pumpkin (about head size)

1 stalk of leek

5 garlic cloves

1 can of full-fat coconut milk

1 1/2 cup water

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp of freshly grated ginger root (you can also use powder)

1/2 tsp turmeric

healthy pinch of Himalaya salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

olive oil for cooking

for topping: fresh parsley, roasted cashews, and sesame seeds

Directions:

Heat some olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat. Cut the leek and garlic, put in the pot and cook for 5 to 10 minutes until very lightly brown.

Peel and cube the pumpkin (the smaller the cubes the faster it’ll cook, so go for pretty small!), put in the pot and pour in 1/2 cup of water. Add all spices – ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper, salt, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar and let it sautee (remember that you’ll have to adjust the spiciness of the soup in the end so go easy on the salt at this step!).

Stir the pumpkin from time to time and slowly add the rest of the water as it absorbs while cooking.

When the pumpkin is soft and mashable with the fork, add coconut milk and puree with a hand blender until smooth and creamy (or transfer to a food processor).